Guitarist, Composer, Guitar Teacher, Author.

FAQ

I want to start guitar lessons, but I do not have an instrument, do I first need to buy a guitar or proceed on with the lessons and buy one later on?
When you begin something it is very important to make a correct start. The first right step is to have all the appropriate equipment that will support your study, occupation and development. Yes you must first buy a guitar so that you can play, rehearse and practice the curriculum taught during the lessons. In case you want to learn Electric Guitar you must also buy an amplifier.

Do I need to buy books for the courses?
Generally speaking no there is no need for books. You will be given structured notes, in printed format (A4 paper size). My teaching notes are comprised of my own exercises as well as others from other selected recognized international educational literature. They include all the necessary information a student needs to have like diagrams chord / scales etc. Of course additional literature can be recommended to you for further read.

My child is 7 years old, can he/she begin guitar lessons at this age?
Based on my experience – having taught more than a hundred students of different ages, over the past twenty years – children should not take Guitar Lessons below the age of 7-8. There are other music related educational things a child can do at this age, like listening to music, participating in musical and rhythmical games with other children, reading musical stories etc. I consider a child below the age of 10 to be too young to be put in the logic of systematic studying of notes, reading of tablatures and making basic manual effort to play the instrument and to produce sound. Sometimes children, who start lessons too early, are repelled from the instrument they try to learn or even form music.

I consider myself to be of advanced age – Is too late to learn the guitar, can I attend your courses?
Of course you can! There is no issue with your advanced age and you don’t need to have any previous experience, as long as you have the will and the desire to learn how to play the guitar!

What guitar styles do you teach?
I teach all styles of wider modern music. Rock, Pop, Blues, Metal, Funk and basic structure of Jazz (not specialize in Jazz guitar but do analysis – learning Jazz tracks standards – chord tones etc. within the framework of the educational program at advanced levels). I Also teach (if you wish) Greek music (rock, artistic, composers, etc.).

I have always admired guitarists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and others with great technical skills – I want learn to play like them, can you teach me these styles and techniques?
Of course I can teach you these techniques. The curriculum I teach encompasses all techniques of guitar.

I want to learn Blues guitar, can you teach me this genre?
Of course I can teach you Blues guitar! You will be taught the theory and shown the basics of acoustic blues guitar, learn the blues progression, the blues scale, blues chords, how to accompany a blues song and play rhythmically, how to build an improvised solo and more…

I am interested to take lessons to learn to play the pentatonic scales, but I do not want to do theory, stave etc. Is that possible?
This is not a right start, even if you don’t want to engage yourself seriously with the instrument! You should begin by learning basic scales – chords and theory (not stave initially), along with the songs you want to learn to play. You don’t know maybe you will have a change of heart in the future and will want take you guitar skills to a higher level – This is why the correct foundations must exist. For example, if you want to learn the chords of a song, you should at least know the scale it and its solo belong to. All this is taught in an ideal framework between repertoire and basic knowledge of the instrument and theory.

Do I need to bring my guitar for the lessons?
No you do not need to bring your guitar. The space is fully equipped and has everything you might need (instruments, amplifiers, etc). Of course you can bring you own instrument if you wish to.

Panos Malahias is Guitarist, Composer, Guitar Teacher, Author. Arranger and Music Producer.
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